The present invention relates broadly to motion upholstery furniture designed to support a user's body in an essentially seated disposition. Motion upholstery furniture includes recliners, incliners, sofas, love seats, sectionals, theater seating, traditional chairs, and chairs with a moveable seat portion, such furniture pieces being referred to herein generally as “seating units.” More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved reclining mechanism developed to accommodate a wide variety of styling for a seating unit which is otherwise limited by the configurations of recliner mechanisms in the field.
Reclining seating units exist that allow a user to forwardly extend a footrest and to recline the chair back relative to the seat. These existing seating units typically provide three basic positions: a normal non-reclined sitting position with the seat generally horizontal and the back substantially upright; a partially reclined position often referred to as a “TV” position wherein the seat and back are disposed in a slightly reclined position but with the back still sufficiently upright to permit comfortable television viewing from the chair; and a fully reclined position wherein the back is pivoted toward horizontal into an obtuse relationship with the seat for lounging or sleeping. Most reclining seating units include a footrest coordinated with the mechanical arrangement to be extended forwardly of the seat in the TV and fully reclined positions.
There are a number of reclining mechanisms in the industry that include the reclining capability and offer certain design capabilities to the furniture manufacturer. However, these reclining mechanisms are relatively complex and to some extent impose constraints on an upholstery designer's use of multiple styling features concurrently into a reclining seating unit. One specific feature is a space saving utility that cures a disadvantage of many traditional seating units, wherein the back in the fully reclined position will contact an adjacent wall unless the base is moved outwardly away from the wall. However, present seating units that incorporate the space saving utility have reclining mechanisms using linkages that reach from the arms to a base on the floor to accomplish this feature. As such, these seating units with existing recliner mechanisms are precluded from providing both a pivot over arm feature, and arms that rest either directly on the floor or supported by high legs. Other existing seating units provide a combination of wing back seats that pivot over the arm and high legs but their linkage structure precludes providing a T-cushion seat design. Still other existing seating unit configurations allow both T-cushion and wing backs that pivot over the arm. However, these seating units require bulky complex reclining mechanisms that restrict the incorporation of a high leg feature that requires a compact mechanism residing between the leg tops and the seat. As such, upholstery designers are forced to choose between styling options. Moreover, upholstery styling designers are forced to purchase and stock many different recliner mechanisms if each option is to be produced within the seating unit line.
The present invention pertains to a novel recliner mechanism that allows a seating unit to provide all of the following features: a T-cushion seat, a wing chair back that pivots over the arms, a space-saving utility, an arm to floor feature, and high leg capability. Significantly, the mechanism of the invention is constructed so that the reclining mechanism is simple and compact such that it can provide function without impairing incorporation of desirable upholstery features. Further, the present invention allows for a wide variety of styling options that may be applied to a seating unit.